Consoles

A purple version of the Xbox One S console, part of an upcoming Fortnite bundle, has fully leaked in a series of images ahead of its official launch. The console and its related controller designs are clearly inspired by the battle royale game's iconic storm, featuring multiple shades of purple accented by purple buttons and a bright white Xbox logo.

On Wednesday, May 22, Panic revealed one of the most interesting handheld game consoles we've seen in years, the Playdate. This small device, which looks somewhat like a Game Boy crossed with an iPod Nano, will offer players mobile access to unique games utilizing the device's hand crank 'joystick.' Each game will be made available as part of a 'season of games,' according to the company, naturally raising some questions about how all of this will work.

It's full steam ahead for the PC-based retro revival that is the Atari VCS, presuming there will no longer be any delays that push it back further than its new late 2019 target. But while Atari has talked a lot about what the console itself will be like, it has been curiously silent on the controllers it revealed in its crowdfunding campaign. It's ready to break that silence now that it's nearing production of the Classic Joystick and the Modern Controller and Atari 2600 fans might be in for a treat.

Panic, the company best known for its Mac and iOS software, has revealed a new pocket-size handheld game console that features a tiny hand crank, D-pad, and black and white display. Called Playdate, the small device resembles a short, wide Game Boy, though there's the obvious exception of a hand crank used as a type of joystick during gameplay.

Today we're looking at the Sony PlayStation 5, or PS5, using all the information we've gathered over the last few weeks. Today is a special day in that over the last 24 hours, we've learned more than was leaked over the past couple of months. Today's pack of information should be enough to assist your decision to start saving up cash to buy the PS5 (or to skip it and buy a few more PS4 games instead).

The Nintendo Switch may be the darling of the console gaming market but when it comes to raw power, the Xbox One and PS4 are still the ones to beat. Especially the PS4 Pro, which unlike its Microsoft rival, is able to support VR experiences. Even more so the next generation PlayStation, a.k.a. the PS5, which has now been leaked to be powerful enough to provide an experience "without disconnections", a.k.a. stuttering and loading.

For the past couple of years, Sony has hosted a sales event called "Days of Play" around the time that E3 kicks off. Sony won't be going to E3 next month, so some of us were left wondering if Days of Play would happen again this year. As it turns out, it will be, and there will be a new limited edition PlayStation 4 leading the charge.

Earthworm Jim is one of those classic franchises that was popular in the 1990s but went dormant as we moved into the new millennium. Aside from remakes and re-releases of older games, we haven't seen a new Earthworm Jim title in 20 years, though that's all going to change soon. Earthworm Jim, it was announced today, will be making a comeback, but the circumstances of this revival might come as a surprise to some folks.

The tiniest detail in the Razer Hammerhead Duo headset (earbuds) has an eye for the Nintendo Switch. To be clear, there'll be two versions of the Razer Hammerhead Duo, one for Switch, the other ready to roll with every other device under the sun. One is called "Razer Hammerhead Duo", the other is called "Razer Hammerhead Duo - Compatible with the Nintendo Switch". Sadly this version will not be in the eye-searing blues and reds of the Nintendo Switch console controllers.

Sony delivered its financial results for the 2018 fiscal year today, and its gaming arm is still leading the charge in terms of success. Though PS4 sales dropped a little bit year-over-year, Sony still managed to sell 17.8 million units throughout the fiscal year as a whole. It made only 2.6 million of those sales in the final quarter of the year (January 1st, 2019 to March 31st), which is traditionally a slow time for the games industry.

Just last week, Sony shared the first official details about the PlayStation 5. Even though that's a sure sign the next generation is on the way, Sony didn't mention anything about the PS5's release date or pricing. The company - or more specifically Mark Cerny, who was the lead architect on the PS4 and the PS Vita - simply said that the console won't be on shelves in 2019.

Why do we care so very much about the respective power levels of each new video game console? Apparently, as rumors of PS5 and Xbox One 2 (or whatever you'd like to call it) suggest, it's not even that we care about the features of the device, but that our device is better than its biggest competitor. Have we been roped in by Sony and Microsoft for a never-ending battle of oneupmanship and, in the process, are emptying our wallets out each new iteration? I mean, probably yes.